We all know how the story goes.
Anakin Skywalker falls in love with Padme Amidala at around 9 years old.
He puts off a creepy stalker vibe. 10 years later he is reunited with her, and the creepy
stalker vibe intensifies.
As does his obsession for her…I mean his love for her.
At first, she’s like “no no, you’re in the friend zone.”
But eventually she falls prey to his unrelenting pestering…I mean charm.
Anakin and Padme become married, and she becomes pregnant…with twins.
Yes, I realize you all understand the story, so please bear with me.
One of the twins is a female.
Not a big deal, people give birth to fraternal twins all the time.
But generally, the twins have some sort of personality trait in common.
But no, these orphaned children are so different from each other.
But they are not different from their biological parents, respective to their genders.
THIS focus is going to be on the youngest of the twins…Leia.
Later named Princess Leia Organa by her adopted parents.
Before we get started, stick around to the end to see the giveaway we are hosting.
And se whose comment was highlighted from the last video.
Also, see why this topic upsets SOME Star Wars fans.
Now…on with today’s show.
Padme Amidala…the former Queen of Naboo, turned Senator.
A strong and capable leader within the Galactic Senate and throughout the Clone Wars.
At 14 years old, she still wasn’t the youngest Queen to serve her planet.
By 23 she was actively engaged in the Clone Wars.
Not just calling shots behind the scenes, but also on the front lines with her secret
husband, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker.
The rank of Master was just out of his reach…but he was permitted to take a seat…on the Jedi
Council.
Had Ahsoka Tano stayed in the Jedi Order and completed her training, Anakin would surely
be a master and be able to stuff it in Mace Windu’s face…without cutting off his hand.
But I digress.
Back to Padme.
She was a strong character.
Princess Leia Organa.
Twin to Luke Skywalker.
Son of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala.
Adopted daughter to Bail Organa.
She became an active member of the senate by the time she was 18.
A little old to be in politics by her mother’s standards.
But that didn’t deter Leia.
She also began running mercy missions to planets affected by the Empire’s tyranny.
While secretly becoming a leader in the Rebel Alliance.
So, if there’s one thing, she accomplished that her mother did not, it was that of remaining
royalty while being a Senator.
But Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader were onto her little side hustle and destroyed
her home planet of Alderaan…along with her entire adopted family.
The similarities to both Padme Amidala’s and Princess Leia Organa’s accomplishments
are obvious.
Like mother like daughter.
(But wait…there’s more)
As I mentioned before, Padme Amidala was Queen of Naboo.
But what I didn’t mention was that she was a queen during one of the biggest crises her
planet had encountered in recent history.
The evil and wicked corporate mongers of the Trade Federation were blockading Naboo over
some kind of trade dispute.
It wasn’t long afterward that Darth Sidious, aka Palpatine, appeared and told the Trade
Federation to begin an attack and occupying Naboo.
The Trade Federation asked if it was legal and Palpatine responded (I will make it legal)
Come on!
If you didn’t know Palpatine and Sidious were one in the same…this line gave it away.
Not to mention it’s the same actor as the Emperor playing both parts.
Okay, I’m sorry.
That got away from me a little bit.
So, the Trade Federation landed their troops in an effort to get Queen Amidala to sign
the treaty.
That’s all a bit confusing for a 12-year-old.
Yeah…that’s whom George Lucas said these movies were for.
Long story short, the Queen is captured and gets rescued by Jedi the Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn
and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Her security forces weren’t enough to keep her safe and she was overwhelmed.
Yes, I know the whole Queen/Handmaiden thingy.
Still…she was captured.
This is the opening bit to The Phantom Menace.
Fast forward 31 or so years.
Princess Leia Organa, Padme’s daughter speeds her way to Tatooine to pick up Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Her efforts are to try to get him to help her Rebellion against the Empire.
But with her are the technical readouts of the most powerful battle station ever created…the
small moon-sized Death Star.
However, when she is close to her goal, she is cornered by Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer
and captured.
Later, she was rescued by…a wannabe Jedi and a retired Jedi.
Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Sound familiar?
That’s just a short bit of what happened to both of them.
Leia Organa had a smart mouth and a fighting spirit.
The same with her mother.
They were warriors.
One was almost the same as the other.
Both had a love interest, in which they both avoided for as long as they could.
Until the creepiness…I mean charm was too much for them.
Remember, Han Solo cornered Leia in a confined space on the Millennium Falcon and made her
like him.
That’s a bit harassing…borderline rapy.
Anakin Skywalker teased Padme with floating fruit.
I’m still not positive he didn’t use a Jedi mind trick to get her to like him.
My point is at both women had the same story…just about.
Fighting royalty…captured…rescued by Jedi…helped lead rebellions.
Remember, Padme Amidala actually helped start the Rebel Alliance in the cut scenes from
Revenge of the Sith.
Both women were strong warriors and didn’t really need a man to define them.
But…yeah…I’m sure you knew this was coming.
Neither woman was the main character of their trilogy.
Both were leading women, but they were supporting characters to the main characters.
Leia’s love story was even secondary to the main arc.
Padme of the prequel trilogy, and Leia of the Original trilogy.
Anakin Skywalker was the main character of the prequels and Luke Skywalker was the main
character of the Originals.
The story was about Darth Vader, how he came to be, and his redemption.
Both Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker were of a desert planet, stuck.
Wanting to be something so much bigger than their constraints would allow.
With Luke it was his aunt and uncle.
With Anakin it was his attachment to his mother and the fact he was a slave.
Similar stories.
I’ll get to them in another video.
But Anakin’s story wasn’t about fulfilling some prophecy.
Anakin Skywalker didn’t care about that.
But I’ll get into that in another video.
(He said a dirty word) …Anakin didn’t care about the prophecy.
Well, it’s true.
So…Leia and Padme were written similar.
Small details were changed but both were teenage girls in trouble and the big strong Jedi showed
up to save them.
It’s classic storytelling.
The damsel in distress.
It’s a theme that has worked for centuries.
Look at a lot of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty…etc.
No, these were not originally Disney movies nor stories.
Cinderella goes all the way back to its first iteration by Charles Perrault in 1697.
The most notable was written as a cautionary tale by the Brothers Grimm in 1812.
It’s a popular format.
One that has been ingrained in our storytelling for a very long time.
Buuuuut….that cycle was broken.
The sequel trilogy began in 2015.
With another trio of characters at the forefront of a Star Wars trilogy, the dynamic was changed.
Rey, a female, is now the main character.
Not a supporting character, as the females of the former two trilogies have been.
A young Force sensitive trapped on a desert planet.
A huge turn of events relieves her from the bonds of servitude, and she’s catapulted
into a larger worth.
Sounds familiar…wait…this is a copycat of A New Hope.
This story should be shunned.
Wait…it isn’t exactly like it.
This time, the hero is captured.
But she doesn’t necessarily need rescued.
That old storytelling device of the damsel in distress is out the window in this story.
Rey is now the reluctant hero.
Still full of self-doubt and not understanding where she belongs in the universe, but she
learns quickly.
Just as Luke Skywalker had before her.
She even changes her name to Skywalker at the end of the trilogy, in an effort to dump
her evil lineage.
Call it usurpation of a name if you want, but you’re just being a social justice warrior
for Luke and Leia.
By the way, they didn’t seem to mind Rey’s chosen last name, and had Ben Solo lived,
she would have became related to them anyway.
No, I don’t want to hear your arguments about how the sequel trilogy sucked or is
garbage.
I’ve been hearing it for a long time.
And this isn’t to praise the sequels.
This is to show how Leia and Padme were written the same way.
As was Luke and Anakin.
But a lot of fans got upset when Rey wasn’t written as a supporting character.
Even said it was too much like a New Hope.
Well…Anakin was written like Luke Skywalker and Padme was written like Leia.
These are called themes.
But what really upset everyone is that Rey took on Luke’s and Anakin’s theme.
And Finn took on more of a helpless damsel’s theme.
Poe was still the Han Solo.
THAT’S the biggest reason some fans hate Rey.
She took the power shift toward a female character.
Now we hear fans screaming “SJW!”
Every time a woman shows up in a Star Wars project.
Especially when one shows up in a leading role.
Remember, we had only seen two prominent women in the original trilogy.
Now the galaxy seems to have about the same ratio of men to women as our own planet.
But that’s really the point of this video.
Padme and Leia were written so much alike.
As were Anakin and Luke.
Yet, when that thematic element swapped genders, the fandom exploded.
I’ll get more into how I feel about the words “Woke” and “SJW” being used
as an insult in another video.
But for now, that’s all I have.
Now, I’d like to take the time to highlight the top comment from my last video.
This comment comes from great big tree hugger.
And this is what Tree Hugger said about the look of the Grand Inquisitor…
Thank you so much for that comment.
And I couldn’t agree more.
Haters gonna hate.
And thank you all for the great comments.
I appreciate every one of them and have read all of them.
Keep em coming and see if you’re the next top comment.
And don’t forget to hit the subscribe button before you go.
By doing so, you enter yourself into a drawing for a chance to win this Sideshow and Hot
Toys Winter Soldier figure once I get to 25k subscribers.
Donated by Emi Mark…a long-time contributor here.
This has been Gerald from Star Wars Fanatic telling you keep Star Wars positive, wishing
you great health and happiness.
Thank you for watching and remember, this is the way…the only way!